Merlin's Army
by Iconodule
Summary: This is the story of Astoria Malfoy, née Greengrass, an extremely talented young legilimens (and, coincidentally, misanthrope) as she navigates through life during and after the Second Wizarding War. All readers who attempt to deduce a theme or message from this fan fiction will be prosecuted under the full extent of wizarding law.
1. Prologue: Slytherin's Story

Prologue: The Tale of Slytherin, As Told by Slytherin Tradition

It was a time before the walls of ignorance and illusion separated the world of the magical people and the Muggles. The magical folk were greatly outnumbered, as we are now, and this allowed the fear of the Muggles to transform into terrifyingly successful witch hunts and scapegoating. You may laugh at this - Muggles posing a threat to us. But before certain magical inventions, surviving capture by wrathful Muggles was much, much harder, you see. Especially for those of us who weren't as adept at magic, like young children or the elderly. As you can imagine, witches and wizards reacted by forming secret communities in order to be safer, and to practice magic in peace. One of these secret, protected communities was, of course, Hogwarts. Other communities had been breached before by infiltrators. Nonmagical spies would not work after a while, of course. They would need to perform something to prove themselves. No, they used Muggle-borns to further their goals. A newcomer would show up to the magical community, asking for a place to belong. The community would oblige, and, soon afterward, the wizard or witch no one had heard of would be gone and a mob of villagers from their home village that they had supposedly broken off ties with would come in the middle of the night. Or, alternatively, a Muggle-born would come to the community, and a group of Muggles would find them and accuse the magical folk of stealing the child because they showed magical ability - or worse, that the magical folk had given the child to the service of the devil. The area authorities would send soldiers to arrest the witches and wizards and burn them at the stake.

With the founders' abilities, staying hidden would be much easier. But some of the protection spells they used were new inventions. And even if the boundaries were safe, they were teaching and protecting children at the castle. So, Slytherin proposed that they only teach those with strong, easily-trusted ties to the wizarding community - in other words, pure-bloods - in order to ensure the highest security possible for the students and those witches and wizards connected with the castle. The other founders didn't agree. They were somewhat radical in their time. Gryffindor thought the risk was worth putting his hope of living peaceably along with the Muggles into practice. Ravenclaw was interested in learning more about how the Muggles lived and thought. Hufflepuff thought it was too unfair. Their positions ruled out Slytherin's, and so Hogwarts as a whole accepted any witch or wizard who wanted to learn. Slytherin continued his friendship with the other founders, allowed to exclude muggle-borns from his group of students as long as he kept the peace. However, a close call with a battalion of the king's soldiers shook Hogwarts' peace regardless. It was never found out what had led them to Hogwarts, but Slytherin was convinced it was a young witch whose Muggle parents were well connected to the local nobility. When the other founders did not believe him and refused to take any of the precautions he suggested, he began separating his students and himself from the rest of the school. As his friendships with the other founders deteriorated, he began to breed a basilisk that could, in the future, be used by him or another parselmouth to defend the school from Muggle attackers. They would see, he thought. Maybe, when that day came, they would acknowledge him again and heal their old friendship. That day never came.


	2. Chapter 1: Ugly

Chapter 1: Ugly

The boat ride to the castle had almost made up for the necessity of being in a crowd of people. As Astoria's boat gently journeyed across the still lake, the lights from the fleet's lanterns added a new constellation to the starry map that was reflected in the black water. She dipped her hand in the water, wanting to tempt up some strange lake-dweller. A wave of nervousness washed over her as her gaze turned to the looming castle on the horizon, and along with it came the scattered thoughts and emotions of her peers. Elation, wonder, and trepidation were mixed in with the all-too familiar thoughts of casual hatred.

_That ginger girl is so fat. Her face reminds me of a monkey. I bet I'll get about twenty times as many –_

_ I hope my magic is good enough. I'd better size up the competition. I think I could at least beat this guy in –_

_ Did you see the way that skinny-ass, makeup-caked girl was looking at me? I bet she's the most heartless tart who ever –_

Astoria sighed angrily and shook her head vigorously. Her parents, both harmless enough, had contacted the headmaster beforehand, hoping he could find a special tutor to help her control her legilimency. Apparently she was an oddity, possessing such an unconscious ability at such a young age. It was especially weird since she only had an average ability at best in every other magical field.

_That will change_, Astoria thought with determination. After all these years of enduring the thoughts of those around her, she knew she had to rise above the standard set by these ordinary backbiters. She was better than them. Even as much as she despised the constant influx of hateful thoughts, they made her feel pure.

The boat ride brought the first-years into the cool, stone interior of Hogwarts. The children looked with awe around them. Astoria was especially impressed with the tall vaulted ceiling, which was lush with lovingly sculpted details of water and fish (to match the indoor docking area for the boats, she assumed). A tall, black-haired woman led the first years up a long flight of stairs into a huge entrance hall, big enough to fit a whole house. Through a gigantic pair of oaken doors on the right on the hall, Astoria could hear a loud rumble of voices, as well as whisperings of a myriad of mental impressions from the students inside. She could piece together a rough picture of the Great Hall from them: long, wooden tables with black-robed children of many ages sitting at them. There were shining plates and goblets sitting on the tables, and all of them were empty. Astoria scurried quietly past the woman (Professor McGonagall, as the big groundskeeper had addressed her) to try and get a better look through the doors.

The Great Hall was just as beautiful as the exterior of the castle. Through the small aperture of the slightly opened grand doors, Astoria could see hundreds of floating candles hovering like glowing minnows under the sky-like ceiling, with its clouds shifting and swirling to dapple the light of the painted moon. The sight made her gasp unintentionally, her fingers and toes tingling with excitement.

"Try to control your eagerness, young lady. You have to stay in line just like the other first-years." The tall, severe witch who spoke looked down at Astoria sternly, waving her away from the door. Astoria obliged grouchily, making an impatient growl in her throat. McGonagall looked at her quizzically for a moment, but quickly proceeded through her usual beginning of the year routine.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but first you need to be sorted into your respective Houses. This is a very important event, because while you are here, your House will be like a new family to you. You will, of course, attend most of your classes with children of the same House, and you will dine and live with them as well. As you triumph in your endeavors here, your house will earn points. If you misbehave or otherwise fall short of your responsibilities as a student of this illustrious school, your House will lose points. At the end of the academic year, the House with the most points wins the House Cup, which is a much sought-after honor. For those of you children who do not already know, there are four Houses here: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each of these Houses has its own illustrious history and has produced outstanding members of our community. I hope each one of you will be a credit to whichever one you become a member of."

The other children were wondering which house they were going to be sorted into. Some had a preference, either from that house's reputation or from family or friends. All of the Greengrass family that Astoria knew of, whose list of magical members stretched back to at least the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, was either in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Her older sister Daphne, however, had been sorted into Slytherin, a fact that worried her parents and elated Daphne. As for Astoria, she wasn't sure which house she wanted. She certainly didn't want to see much of Daphne, but there was sure to be someone else she hated in the other houses. Well, the choice wasn't really up to her, anyway. McGonagall continued with her procedure after the chattering of the first-years subsided.

"I will require you to line up in alphabetical order by last name. First, Aalders, Jane…" The children shuffled into place nervously, muttering to each other about what could be in store for them behind the great oaken doors. After McGonagall went into the Great Hall to prepare whatever the Sorting Ceremony entailed, a brown haired-girl who towered over her (which wasn't saying much) started in a nervous voice,

"H-hi, I'm Sarah Grieve. Nice to meet you, uh…" Astoria looked up at Sarah coolly, trying to focus her legilimency her way. Just the normal sweaty palms, beginning of school anxiety, plus longing thoughts of the home she'd left a few hours ago. There wasn't anything to be alarmed about at the moment. After what must have been a few awkward seconds, she replied,

"I'm Astoria. Astoria Greengrass."

"Oh. Um…what house do you want? I personally want to be a Hufflepuff. I don't know, from what I've heard, they seem less demanding."

"I don't really care which house I get," Astoria replied in her surprisingly high voice.

"Oh. I guess that's good. Y-you know, I hear most people marry someone they meet in school. I wonder if I'll meet the_ one_ here, you know?" Sarah hastily said to fill up the uncomfortable silence. Luckily for both of them, McGonagall returned just as she finished that thought.

The Great Hall hushed its clamor as the fist-years filed in, only to stop before a stool with an old wizard's hat on it. Something Daphne always said was that the fashion sense of the magical world was perpetually stuck in an age where everyone dressed like a senile old cat lady. Seeing this sad thing, Astoria had to grudgingly agree with her for once. A rip opened on the hat, which then proceeded to sing about the four Houses and their founders.

_Oh God. It's singing. Do I save to sing too? Does everything in this place sing?_ Astoria thought with chagrin. When the song finally ended, McGonagall sounded out their names in alphabetical order, just like before. They came up to the stool and put the hat on. When her name was called, she walked up to the hat slowly, trying to mask her fear. The patchy, brown fabric slid over her eyes, covering up the sea of curious faces, all staring at her.

_Don't like my singing, do you? Hmmm. Well, it seems you're not a Hufflepuff, that's for sure…_ a scratchy voice said in her head. Astoria yelped in absolute surprise and nearly tipped off the stool, resulting in a murmur of soft laughter and shushes from the older students sitting at the tables. An influx of derisive thoughts gathered at the edge of her mind. She was so used to reading other peoples thoughts, it was a shock to have someone else be in her own head, which she had never questioned the sanctity of before. The hat chuckled and went on.

_So, you want to rise above the common rabble, eh? Gain control over this power of yours? You wouldn't do badly in Ravenclaw with this curiosity, but I'm going to have to say…. _"SLYTHERIN!"

The table of students with green and silver ties at the far end of the hall applauded loudly for the short little girl as she hurried to their table, red spreading over her pale face. She tried to shield herself from looks by pulling some of the prodigious amount of her wavy, dark brown hair over her face. She sat down at the nearest open seat, which happened to be a few seats away from her sister and right next to a blonde boy who looked like he was in Daphne's year in school.

"Well, you made it the best house, Tori. Congratulations," said Daphne with her lips covered in bright red lipstick. With her lipstick, thick eyeliner, and dyed, teased hair, she was definitely attempting a "rocker" look. And succeeding. Daphne was trying to cover up her Welsh accent to sound cool, and Astoria could tell even without legilimency that she was embarrassed by Astoria's outburst under the Hat. She looked darkly back at her sister, her shame growing.

"Yes, welcome, dear! We've heard so much about you!" chimed a pretty sixth-year who was sitting across from Astoria cheerily, trying to calm her. "You certainly seem like an interesting person! I'm Gemma Farley, a prefect. Don't worry, you'll be well looked after here!" Astoria gave her a small smile, trying to resist reading any thoughts coming from her. She didn't want to ruin the friendly image she had.

"This is Graham Montague. I think you've met before now, right?" said Gemma, gesturing to a rather muscular third-year with straight, black hair sitting in between Gemma and Daphne. He gave a polite nod and smiled. He was one of Daphne's best friends, and had come to visit her at their house before. "The boy sitting next to you is Draco Malfoy, and next to him are Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe." Before, Draco had been talking to Gregory about dementors making someone faint on the Hogwarts Express. Hearing his name mentioned, he turned to her and said,

"Pleased to meet you, Astoria. I'm interested to see how such a powerful legilimens turns out. I hope we can be friends." He offered a hand to her smugly, expecting a shake. Astoria looked up at him, picking out his thoughts in particular from the rest of the random barrage of images trying to get into her mind. She remembered Daphne mentioning him in annoyance, along with the other Slytherin kids who were into pureblood ideology. This one was apparently the worst of his year. What could he be like, really?

Draco had started to withdraw his hand when she finally shook it, grinning toothily.

"You know, people aren't usually so eager to be around someone who can read their thoughts, Malfoy."

"Well, I –"

"You know what else? I think envy is the _ugliest_ emotion," Astoria said slyly, still grinning as she glanced quickly at the Gryffindor table, where a bespectacled boy with black hair and a buck-toothed girl were just sitting down together. Draco's face reddened, and he looked away angrily.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Greengrass." He retorted firmly. A few of the other students listening snickered, guessing at what Astoria was getting at, but most of the other students were turning to the headmaster, who was about to commence the year. The Great Hall quickly quieted, and Astoria couldn't help but be filled with hope and excitement at the prospect of the year beginning. Maybe life would get better from this point forward.


	3. Chapter 2: Welcome to Slytherin!

Chapter 2: Welcome to Slytherin!

With the warmth of the opening feast still on their minds, the Slytherin first years made their way down into the dark, cool dungeons, led by Gemma Farley and her twin brother Aurelio. As they went deeper and deeper into the dungeons of Hogwarts, the quieter the surroundings got. Where the décor in the main area of the castle was clamorous with its colors and movement, the paintings, tapestries, and light in the dungeons were generally more subdued in tone and subject, with a few points of bright, jewel colors to break through the darkness. Eventually the group got to a black stone wall with a large blank spot in the middle.

"Alright, this is the entrance to our common room," said Aurelio. "The password to get in changes every two weeks, and when it does you'll see it on the notice board." Gemma turned to the blank wall and said,

"The password now is _chiaroscuro_." At the last word, uttered firmly, the dark stones disappeared to reveal a short passageway that led into a grand-looking room. The back windows showed the green depths of the Great Lake, with its many strange creatures. At the moment, a small merman was floating near one of the windows and tapping the glass with a stick. The low, vaulted ceiling of the room had green and silver lanterns hanging down alongside black stalactites. There was a lot of dark wooden furniture (especially bookshelves), as well as black and green leather chairs and sofas. Between the back windows a large fireplace, which was situated under a snake emblem hewn into the wall, provided heat and light. All around the walls of the Common Room elaborate, medieval tapestries depicted scenes of people. Some were speaking, some were singing, some were working at some magical experiment, some faced some strange beast or foe, among many other diverse feats. The Farley twins went and stood in the middle of the Common Room, where several other upperclassmen were waiting. Gemma waited for the first-years to quiet down, smiling, before saying proudly,

"Welcome to Slytherin, the House of ambition, determination, resourcefulness, leadership, and cunning!"

"All of us here have ambition, the seeds of greatness. Who here knows what they want to do?" asked Aurelio. A few seconds ticked by before a red-haired boy raised his hand.

"What's your name?"

"I'm John White," the boy replied.

"And what's your ambition?"

"I'm not going to be poor anymore!" he confidently said. The Farley twins smiled and clapped appreciatively, joined by a few of the other students. More first years raised their hands after this, and one by one all of them were called upon. A tall girl with her hair in a bob, named Caroline Odell, wanted to start her own fashion line. Jerome Katz, a short, chubby boy, wanted to become a powerful Auror. A very skinny girl named Zlata Alkaeva wanted to create new laws in the Ministry of Magic. When those who knew what their ambition was had been called on, Gemma continued,

"If you don't know what you want to do yet, that's O.K. You still have ambition, and a will and ability to pursue that ambition. That's what separates us from the other Houses. Everyone has dreams, but we have the drive to achieve those dreams no matter the cost. Some past members of Slytherin have been Kingsley Shacklebolt, who is currently a highly respected Auror working for the Ministry of Magic, Phineas Nigellus Black, a former headmaster of the school, and Merlin, the greatest wizard of all time! Really, I can't think of why anyone would want to be in another House. Now, you need to know a bit more about your new Housemates and the rules we have."

"Professor Severus Snape is our Head of House," stated Aurelio, shifting to sit casually in a large, green armchair. "That means he's in charge of most things pertaining to Slytherin House - including disciplining Slytherin students in most cases - and also, of course, what happens with the Slytherin Quidditch team. Unless there's an unusual circumstance you can't join that yet, unfortunately. When you're in your fifth year, he'll give you advice on your future careers. He's also the potions master, so you'll have a lot of classes with him. My sister Gemma and I are some of your prefects. The other ones are Galatea Petras and Gerald Armistead, who are the fifth-year prefects, and Agni Bhasmatas and Lobelia Kirkland, who are the seventh year prefects." A few of the upperclassmen came forward at the mention of their names. "It's our basic job to make sure you all behave. We can take away House points from other Slytherin students if we feel you aren't living up to our House's great legacy."

"But, you see," Gemma continued, leaning on Aurelio's armchair, "we're a House that pulls together, so that's not all we do. We make sure all is well in Slytherin, so to speak. Or, we make sure you all make it that way. It's inevitable that not all of us will get along, but we are in the same House so that we can help each other achieve the greatness that the Hat saw in each of us. No, we're definitely not all best friends, but we won't stand for feuds between our members, and we present a united face to the other Houses. If we catch you harassing another Slytherin, or if you can't stop bickering with one, we'll take care of the problem. There is another side to this, though. If we find out that you're being treated badly by anyone, even a teacher, we'll do all we can to make the situation better. Professor Snape is especially insistent about this policy. You'll feel a lot more confident in Hogwarts with other snakes getting your back."

"Hmm, what else are we missing?" Gemma mused. "Oh, our House Ghost is the Bloody Baron. You probably noticed him at the opening feast just now. He's the ghost with the chains and bloodstains all over him. We like to think that he's the scariest ghost in the castle. He barely talks, and then only to Slytherin students when he's in the mood for it. It's often hard to understand what's he's getting at, and there's a chance he won't quite remember your name, but he _has_ been known to give people good advice – or at the very least interesting advice. If you really get on his good side he'll sometimes even agree to scare someone in particular for you.

"Now, your dormitories are this way," she said, gesturing to a stone archway to the left of the room. "You'll find green and silver ties to add to your uniforms there. The girls' dormitories are to the left down that hallway, and the boys' are to the right. But before you go, there's a word of warning we've had to add on to our welcoming speech." At this, the first years who had eagerly started towards the hallway leading to their waiting beds stopped and turned back towards the prefects warily. Astoria could feel their trepidation, as well as a cold feeling settle in her own stomach.

"We've always been the least popular House in Hogwarts almost since the beginning, since we're supposedly all Dark Arts enthusiasts or pure-blood supremacists – which isn't true, obviously, as I'm sure some of you are muggle-borns. I suppose those are the type of people the other students like to pay the most attention to, though. Last year, however, things have changed a bit since the incident with the basilisk. I'm sure you've all heard of it by now. If not, you can ask one of us about it later. But anyway, this basilisk – a giant, magical snake, basically - was hiding in a secret part of the castle built by our founder nearly one thousand years ago for security purposes. It almost killed a few students until it was finally put down, and the whole school was terrified. Including us, mind you, but no one seems to remember that. Anyway, that really put us on the school's blacklist." At this, Gemma sighed. The room was quiet now except for the sound of gently moving water outside the windows.

"Now, we're not necessarily saying that you should be paranoid and not socialize outside of our family here, but just don't get your hopes too high. Try not to get into trouble, because it will probably end up being your fault, even if it really wasn't." A few upperclassmen, including Graham Montague, added their assent from behind Gemma.

"Be on the lookout for 'jokes,' especially from Gryffindors," he interjected. "Well, mostly just the Weasley twins. They aspire to be the proud owners of a joke shop, but it's more likely that they'll end up in Azkaban for a particularly whimsical manslaughter or two. Never accept anything from them, especially candy."

"Oh, don't worry too much," Aurelio quickly added, trying to make his demeanor as cheery as it was before. "Remember what we said earlier. We look out for each other. No one can hurt us if we stick together." A bit of the fear in the group of first-years was lifted, but Astoria went to her bed without any of her anxieties assuaged. After an hour or so of tossing under the comfortable green sheets and listening to the thoughts of her peers, the sound of the push and pull of the lake lulled her to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3: Mental Witness

Chapter 3: Mental Witness

"Daphne, don't wear those! You'll offend Mr. Rowle!" said Laudine Greengrass, Astoria and Daphne's mother, who was doing her best to make her girls presentable to the honored peer coming to dine with them.

"That's the idea." Daphne, ever the rebellious child, had worn some combat boots that she had bought on her many trips to the nearby town of Bangor. With her beautiful, pale yellow dress robes, the black leather boots stood out like funeral-goers at a wedding. The golden shoes intended for the dress were lying disused in the corner of Daphne's spacious, amber-colored bedroom.

"Oh, stop it, Daph! You're so stupid! You just think you're better than us," said Astoria angrily. She had been sitting in her sister's room for a while now, already wearing her rose-colored gown and silver shoes. She was waiting for the moment of Mr. Rowle's arrival by staying where all the action was at the moment.

"Honestly, Daphne, I thought I got rid of all of that Muggle trash you brought home. Now we're just going to sit here until you take them off and put on the shoes I bought for you." At this, their mother took a seat on the bed in front of Daphne and crossed her legs, staring at her trouble child with a stony expression on her naturally gentle face. Daphne sighed deeply after a few frigid seconds and slipped out of the boots, stalking past Astoria's place at the large window overlooking the forest surrounding their mansion to get to her intended dinner shoes. It was nearing the gloaming of twilight now, and the soft orange light was slanting through the tall window weakly and giving everything in the room an old, nostalgic look. Now that Daphne's little rebellion had been quelled, the two sisters followed their mother, who had adorned herself in a peach-colored dress as beautiful and dainty as theirs, out of the bedroom into the upstairs hallway. Everything in the mansion was lush and warm. The wallpaper, a pale gold and cream, depicted a stylized forest much like the one outside. Here and there a white bird peeped through the paper foliage. Hunting trophies, both recent and ancient, adorned the walls and some corners of the house. Much of the wall space and all of the stairs and floor was polished oak, carved into intricate floral patterns. Suits of armor and medieval weapons, tokens from the time when the old Greengrasses often employed their use, seemed to sit in vigil in the halls. The house elves had set out multicolored bouquets to welcome the family's peer, a pureblood businessman and politician. Eventually the trio encountered Owain, Astoria and Daphne's father, at the bottom of the stairs. He looked positively medieval in his dark red, fur-trimmed robes.

"Daphne, I'm going to have a talk with you tonight. Go to the entrance hall to greet our guest," said her father in an icy voice. The grin Daphne was wearing slid from her face quickly as a similar grin spread across Astoria's face. She had gone a bit too far, it seemed. After Daphne and Mrs. Greengrass left, Owain turned to Astoria, smiling warmly.

"Now, I know you don't like being around new people, Astoria. If he makes you uncomfortable, just try to focus on your mother's thoughts or mine. Alright?" He affectionately patted her on the head with his large, beefy hand, and Astoria nodded shyly.

"Alright, Daddy." Astoria had gotten used to the thoughts of her parents, which were almost always loving and affectionate when it came to her and even her sister. It was easy to get caught up in their feelings and opinions, though there were some things in their heads Astoria couldn't understand. Daphne, on the other hand, constantly annoyed her with her disdainful thoughts of her, her family, and her family's philosophy and way of life. Everything about their family was embarrassing to Daphne now, including Astoria herself. The older sister couldn't wait until she was old enough to go to Hogwarts in two years, and Astoria shared her sentiment for once.

When Astoria and her father got to the entrance hall, Mr. Rowle - a smart-looking man - was already there, chatting with Daphne and Mrs. Greengrass about some nicety or another. Astoria soon got an impression of what the guest was like, and what she saw confused her. Rowle's thoughts were barely focused on the family, the house, or even what they were going to eat for dinner. He kept jumping back to a series of related images that she couldn't understand. They were in a dark room with only a small beam of light falling on…what? There seemed to be dirty pile of sheets crumpled into one corner of the dark room. Before she could get a better look, the image was gone, replaced by quickly thrown-together courses of action designed to charm his hosts.

"And what's your name, pretty young lady? Rowle asked with a saccharine voice that made Astoria uncomfortable.

"My name is Astoria. I am very pleased to meet you," she said quietly as she curtseyed. Mr. Greengrass led his guest through the highly decorated entrance hall to the dining room, which earlier had had many elves scurrying around, trying to make the food and the dinner table pristine and beautiful. Soon, they were sitting down to the supper that the house elves had set on the table. It was red meat. Because she was beginning to be disturbed by their guest's erratic thoughts, she began to try to focus on the conversation Rowle and her father were having.

"I don't know if you know this, Mr. Rowle, but our family has kept our traditional fief since we won it from a dark warlock in the tenth century. Of course, nowadays people don't need protection from bands of robbers or Muggle mobs. So, what we do now is – how do you say – ensure harmony and peace in our fiefdom. If there's a dangerous politician gaining power, we put an end to it. If crime is on the rise, we put some of our own people on the streets. The one thing I've learned from Muggles and their history is that you can't trust them not to make the world worse for everyone. So, we don't let them. I suspect they have a lower propensity for intelligence and empathy than our kind, you see," said Mr. Greengrass. "We like to think of ourselves as Muggle shepherds." Mr. Rowle smiled, chuckling. Astoria and her mother joined in. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Daphne making a face.

"We really protect the greater good don't we?" Rowle replied, raising his glass of red wine. "So, remind me of that new investment you're undertaking, Owain. I'm a bit forgetful lately." Astoria caught a strong thought from him after he said this, taking a bite of his meat.

_For the love of God, please let me out…wait! Wait! I…I still hurt from the last time! No!_ Astoria dropped the fork that she had in her hand, her eyes wide. Whatever this was, she didn't want to hear or see any more of it.

"May I please be excused?" she asked as smoothly as she could manage, her voice breaking a little on the word "please."

"Darling! Don't be rude!" her mother quickly snapped, turning quickly to smile apologetically at Rowle. Mr. Greengrass glanced at his daughter and his wife, conflicted.

"Are you feeling ill, Astoria?" he asked, sensing his daughter's growing panic. "If so, I'm sure Mr. Rowle won't mind if you step out for a while."

"Oh, no, not at all, young lady," he said jovially. Astoria looked at her mother for approval, and she grudgingly nodded. She hastily started to reset her place at the table to indicate that she was finished, and as she was doing this she could feel Rowle's feverish thoughts struggle in vain to focus on the situation he was in at the moment. Suddenly the image of the thin, bruised face of a woman bubbled up into her mind like gore from a wound. The woman's good eye moved and opened wide with terror, and a hoarse, desperate scream was let out. She could see hands moving to untie something below her – or Rowle's – line of sight, and in a few moment the woman's face (now closer to her view) twisted into a rictus of pain. Astoria found herself transfixed in shivering fascination, and she couldn't tear herself away from the unity between herself and Rowle. In the next flash of image and sound, intense and painful, she saw hands covered in blood in the dark, and she heard the sound of labored breathing and soft moaning. Was it the woman or Rowle? She didn't know. Soon, all she could hear was piercing screaming going on and on. Her vision was blurred with tears.

The next thing she knew, her father was picking her up from the floor where she had apparently fallen, trying to calm her. It appeared the crazed shrieking was hers. The red from the visions turned to the red from the food and drink she had spilled, and soon she could make out the faces of her family, Rowle, and a few house elves who had come to help with the disturbance.

"Get him out of here!" she yelled at the top of her voice, lifting a shaking finger at Rowle. "He's hurting someone! Make him go away! He's evil!" An angry house elf quickly tried to drag the guest out into the entrance hall in the absence of an order from either Mr. or Mrs. Greengrass, who stared from the guest to Astoria, bewildered. Astoria quickly got up, swatting away her father's hand and sprinting for the stairs as fast as she could, not stopping until she reached her room, where she closed and locked the door behind her. Outside her window, the moon was rising and the sky was dark, so she closed the curtains. Astoria left her room dark and tried to remember what she had thought about the world before.

* * *

><p>"Miss Greengrass, are you alright?" Again, Astoria found herself on the floor, this time on all fours with her hand in front of her mouth, feeling nauseated. Professor Snape helped her up and sat her in a large armchair facing the fireplace in his office. She sighed deeply and didn't answer. She seemed to be absorbed in the hissing wood being consumed with flames in the hearth.<p>

"What do you think broke your concentration?" Snape asked after a few minutes of tense silence. He was now standing stiffly to the side of her chair, his hands raised, then lowered, then ultimately clasped behind his back.

"Probably you breaking in like a psychopath!" she shouted tearfully, her voice breaking down at the last word.

"Ms. Greengrass, you will not be able to prevent unconscious mental intrusion if you cannot prevent intentional intrusion. Those are the simple facts. Now, why do you think your concentration broke?"

"I don't know! I don't want to examine myself under a microscope all the time, it's depressing!"

"You must. Someone of your unusual talents has more responsibility than an ordinary child – even a magical child. Listen!" Snape snapped, as Astoria turned away from him. "When other people use Legilimency, like me, they sift through the victim's mind at will. The victim relives all thoughts, emotions, and memories to an extent that a Legilimens with good control decides. With you, it's the opposite. You are a magnet for mental intrusions, and you have no control over what you see or feel! You even told me you are forced into others' dreams sometimes! Do you want to stay that way? I will ask you again: what broke your concentration?"

"I told you, I don't know!" wailed Astoria. "And anyway, if a good Legilimens can control how much the victim relives the memories and stuff, then why did you make me relive _that_ memory? You're a…a… horrible tutor!" A bitter grin spread across the professor's mouth.

"That was not I. I tried to stop it when it came up, but you forced that memory to replay," Snape tried to explain in a calm voice, though that was hard to do through gritted teeth.

"And you watched?" she asked with tears in her eyes, contorting her face in rage.

"Of course I did. I am trying to understand you and what makes your power work the way it does. Please calm down, Ms. Greengrass."

"No!" she shouted, her high-pitched voice hurting his ears. "How would you feel if I did that to you? _Legilimens_!" At this, she leaped up from the chair, thrusting her silver lime wand in Snape's direction and concentrating all of her will on penetrating the professor's mental defense. All she accomplished after a minute of growling in fury was a flash of Snape's point of view at the moment (probably conceded to her willingly): a short little girl with an astonishingly ugly look on her face, shaking in rage. Astoria dropped her wand in hot shame and turned towards the door, her hair shielding her red face.

"Very well," Snape said darkly, dropping off into silence.

The walk back to the Common Room was as silent as a frozen wasteland. Finally, they reached the stone entrance. Snape stated the password – _chiropteran_ – in his usual monotone drawl, and the black rock silently slid to reveal the Common Room, now lit only by the lamps and a dying fireplace.

"As usual, Miss Greengrass, do your exercises. Try to focus on an object or a phrase when you start trying to empty your mind," dictated Snape, as if nothing had happened. "And don't forget to keep your daily diary."

"Yes, Professor," Astoria replied as the Common Room entrance closed in behind her.


End file.
